I'm purchasing an entire pack of lollipops today at lunch..thanks for the idea ;) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/7/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 9 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 207 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $49.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 57 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49

N2K: No offense taken. Thanks for your responses. Anger mgt. might be good idea although I'm generally opposed to the idea. Why should I have to change my interpretations and behaviors just because everybody else is p------ me off? They are in the wrong - BOINK! BOINK! BOINK!. Oh, maybe I see what you mean. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -2 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

just had to comment before i go to bed. I don't feel any self-loathing or need to forgive myself. What I feel is humble. I am weaker than nicotine and I was stupid to ever, even after 11 years, feel otherwise. I share the fact of my 11 year quit so readily, not that I am proud of it, but to let others know how dangerous this cigarette habit is. I find myself now in the same boat that I was in then as I embarked in what turned out to be my 11 year quit. Thanks for the welcome. I need it right now. Good Night. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -2 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

I know you all old fogies are checking out this post. The younger ones don't even know who Kojak is. One of my main triggers is people pissing me off. I think that from now on that I'm gonna keep a lollipop in my mouth at all times, the biggest I can find. Whenever somebody pisses me off, instead of internalizing it and running for a cigarette, I'm just gonna boink them in the head with it. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 11/19/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] -3 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 0 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $0 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 0 [B]Hrs:[/B] 0 [B]Mins:[/B] 0 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

Actually, tootsie pops make wonderful passifiers if you ask me, and Telly Savalas did actually quit smoking using them duing the filming of Kojak. The writers finaly gave up and wrote them into the scripts. So I'm an old fogey, who cares, I'm 30 days smoke freeeeeeeeee!!!!! Welcome, and congratulations on deciding to share your story with us. I think it takes courage and I thank you for that. We can all learn something from each other and we become family instantly here. Oh, and by the way, bopping someone with a tootsie pop constitutes a salt and sweetery.... oh dear, it's gettting silly... I better damce off to bed now.... Denise [IMG]http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/DeeKaySss/Ostrich_dancer.gif[/IMG] [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 10/16/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 31 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 933 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $232.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 10 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

I always wanted know if Kojak-Telly was a quitter and therefore, he was always with that lollipop in his mouth. thanks Parrot for this information... :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 9/11/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 66 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 997 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $198 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 10 [B]Mins:[/B] 2 [B]Seconds:[/B] 21

Need to put on weight an shave your head! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 8/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 100 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,002 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �525 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 20 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 38 [B]Seconds:[/B] 59

Cute! :) You may be an old fogey, Parrotlady, but you sure can dance! Was that you I saw last night on Dancing with the Stars? imallclear, they sell cleaner for your computer screen. Those lollies are making a sticky mess! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 9/8/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 69 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,467 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $552 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 13 [B]Seconds:[/B] 26

Imallclear, Sorry to hear that you are struggling right now. I am copying a previous post below from Josie. This post outlines the issue of irritability very well. It is long but has lots of great information. "Afraid to turn into a bear when quitting? Maybe you've quit and it's already happened? Explosive, quick to anger over little things? Unexpected outbursts? You are not alone, but rather one of many. What happens? People in recovery do have ups and downs, and sometimes more downs than ups unless they adopt new ways of coping, none of which happen overnight. We keep saying that quitting is a process. Anger may play an unexpected role for you in this process, and better coping skills need to be developed to deal with this also. When many smokers and dippers quit, they go through changes that require some unmasking. Take anger, for instance: As nicotine addicts, we might have swallowed our anger, or lit up/chewed rather than make a scene when something really irked us. It might have been easier and less stressful than engaging in confrontation about some problem. I'm confident that most smokers and dippers who were "put in their place" can remember exhaling the smoke slowly at some time or other to decompress. They puffed or chewed away for dear life rather than say their piece and end up getting fired from a much-needed job, to offer one example, or be in an in-law�s bad books forever, to name another. In such anger, a nicotine fix became the crutch, the comforter and the savior of sorts, and quite a coping mechanism! (Or so we thought anyway.) Get my drift? With the giving up (and loss from our lives) of that lifelong 'all-round friend' the cigarette, we literally go through mourning with all its stages, including the stage of sadness and anger. Quitting is a major loss, both physically and psychologically, and in addiction, a quitter will naturally mourn that loss for a little while, until they freely accept the quit and adopt it, just letting go of smoking or chewing. But besides that mourning, there are also things that can naturally trigger an angry response in a quitter: For instance, typical little things such as finding an empty roll on the toilet paper dispenser, discovering someone's dirty

Who's Kojak? :confuse: :p I'm okay with the lollipop idea ('cause U can't reach me from here *grin* ) Anger is a common trigger imallclear. When you have time~ consider doing an internet search on anger management. You may discover many new ways to cope that work for you. Generally the trick is to 'practice them' until they do work for you. Repetition is often necessary. I actually used anger (at big tobacco) to overcome my initial fear of quitting. After that I used humor (and the 'take a walk' technique ;) ) to overcome the anger. You are the new member that once had an 11 year quit right? If I'm correct then you probably feel some 'self-loathing' and you need to 'forgive yourself'. Ultimately the decision to stop and never smoke again comes from how YOU feel about yourself. There is nothing better you can do for yourself than to prove and establish your own self-respect by ending your self-imposed prison term with cigarettes. Stay strong~live long. And a belated welcome from me :) [color=blue][font=Tahoma]All the best~[/color] [img]http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/6922/n3us.gif[/img][size=3][color=blue]2[/color][/size][img]http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2344/k6ob.gif[/img][/color] [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 8/20/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 453 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 9,966 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2265 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 42 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 51 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49